If you watched the Red Sox’s 7-6 and 5-1 wins over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday and Wednesday, you likely noticed someone missing from the Boston bench.
Not only was Brock Holt not in the starting lineup, he wasn’t with the team at all.
Well it turns out the utility man had a pretty good reason to be away from the team. According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, Holt left Cleveland on Tuesday before the win after his Navarro College baseball coach, Derwood “Pops” Penney, died at age 78 on Saturday.
Brock Holt is away from the Red Sox for personal reasons. His junior college coach at Navarro College, Derwood “Pops” Penney, died this week. The two were very close.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) August 14, 2019
Holt honored his late coach with a touching Instagram post:
Holt will re-join the Sox in Boston on Wednesday night and be available for the team’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on Friday.
